Can Parrots Eat Blueberries? It Might Be A Mess!

You have probably heard that the variety of fresh fruits plays a very important part of your parrot’s diet.

While you should try to incorporate fresh fruit into your parrot’s daily diet, you need to know that not all fruits are safe for parrots to eat. Knowing what fruits make a good and nutritious meal for your feathered pall will help you keep him happy and healthy.

So, can parrots eat blueberries? Yes, your parrot can eat blueberries, and they are one of the healthiest fruits you can give to your pet bird. Keep in mind, while blueberries are full of vitamins and antioxidants, moderation is the key, so offer them as an occasional snack.

As with anything, if you feed too much blueberries to your parrot, all the positives can easily turn into negatives. And there is also a chance that your parrot will fill on blueberries and then refuse to eat something else that is also necessary for his overall well-being.

What is the nutritional value of blueberries

Often labeled as superfood, blueberries are nutritious, sweet, low in calories, and overall extremely healthy for you and your parrot. Most birds love eating them, and every time you give blueberries to your feathered pall, he will get a good dose of:

Vitamin C: A parrot’s body utilizes large amounts of vitamin C daily, so your pet bird needs to eat foods rich in vitamin C regularly at least, or daily if possible. This micronutrient is beneficent for your parrot’s overall health since it boosts the immune system, washes heavy metals from the body, helps in healing, regulates blood sugar, and lowers blood pressure. These are just some of the benefits of vitamin C, and blueberries are full of it
Vitamin B6: Blueberries contain B6 which, along with other B vitamins, helps your parrot’s body to turn food into energy. On its own, vitamin B6 lowers the chance of heart disease and stroke and supports healthy brain development among many other things
Vitamin A: Is the most commonly deficient nutrient is a pet bird’s diet, and feeding blueberries to your feathered pal is a great way to include more vitamin A into his diet. Vitamin A is responsible for growth and development, immune system, good vision, and yellow and red pigmentation
Potassium: Is a mineral and an electrolyte which helps maintain constant blood pressure, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, and helps preserve muscle mass
Iron: Blueberries also contain a small amount of iron which is needed by your parrot’s body to produce hemoglobin
Magnesium: Is necessary for the body to process calcium properly, and plays a role in maintaining the strength of bones, beaks, and supports healthy skin and feathers
Antioxidants: Protect the body of free radicals which are unstable molecules that can damage cells and contribute to aging and development of cancer. Blueberries are believed to have one of the highest levels of antioxidants of all fruits and vegetables and are proven to directly increase the antioxidant levels in the body.

Although blueberries are extremely healthy, you shouldn’t let your parrot eat them too often. An excessive amount of antioxidants can remove too many free radicals, which isn’t a good thing since a small number of them is necessary for an immune system to work properly.

Thus, try to keep your parrot’s meals versatile and include blueberries without overdoing it.

Other healthy fruits are strawberries, as we explain in this article.

Further, parrots can also eat lemons and grapefruit. Surprising isn’t it? One would think that they are way to sour for parrots to eat. Well, they can eat them! Read our article on parrots and lemons here! Lemons even have more benefits than you might know!

Also, read our article on parrots and grapefruits here!

How to serve blueberries to a parrot

Being completely safe to eat whole, there isn’t much you need to do with blueberries before serving them to your parrot, except wash them thoroughly.

Generally, you can use a skewer for smaller birds, like budgies to serve the blueberries. Or you can just place some blueberries into the feeding bowl if your parrot likes the pick the fruits whole and eat them that way.

On the other hand, conures like to hold blueberries in their claws and eat them as you would eat an apple. If this is the case with your parrot, just place blueberries in an area where he will be able to grip them easily and watch him enjoy his meal.

Will a parrot make a mess when eating blueberries?

The majority of pet parrots are generally messy eaters. But eating blueberries can bring a mess to a whole new level since this is a juicy fruit.

Don’t be surprised if besides cleaning your home you’ll have to clean your clothes as well since some parrots find it extremely funny to throw blueberries at their owners.

However, don’t let the idea of cleaning discourage you from feeding blueberries to your parrot. To minimize the mess, you can opt to feed your parrot inside his cage and place the cage away from furniture and carpets.

As an alternative, you can try to chop the blueberries into smaller pieces, place them into a bowl and offer them to your parrot. However, you can also leave them whole and hope for the best, but keep in mind that some amount of juice will certainly drip from your parrot’s beak.

Do you need to peel blueberries for a parrot?

No, you don’t have to peel blueberries before giving them to your parrot. If you are concerned that the blueberry is too big, you can cut it in half or quarters and serve them that way.

Can a parrot have blueberry juice?

To put it simply yes, your parrot can drink blueberry juice. You can buy an organic blueberry juice or squeeze some fresh blueberries and make it at home.

Keep in mind that you will need a lot of blueberries to make juice at home, especially if you want to share it with your feathered pall. Either way, you choose, you can offer the juice as a stand-alone drink or mix it with your parrot’s next meal.

Can parrots eat dried blueberries?

Yes, you can feed dried blueberries to your parrot. However, if you have an option to pick between fresh and dried ones, always choose fresh blueberries. The biggest problem with dried fruit is that it shrinks and your parrot will eat much more of it, than fresh fruit.

And since blueberries are high in sugar, your parrot can be getting 4 times more calories and sugar than it would when eating fresh blueberries.

What about pesticides in blueberries?

Most berries nowadays are full of pesticides unless you are buying organic ones. Generally, it is best to avoid feeding your parrot with fruits and vegetables that have been treated with pesticides.

You should always feed organic blueberries to your feathered pall, and if you can’t find any, then don’t give him fresh blueberries at all. Instead, try to find organic dried blueberries and offer them as an occasional treat.

Will a parrot’s poop be purple after eating blueberries?

It is completely normal for parrots to have purple droppings after eating blueberries, so you shouldn’t worry about it. Since birds have fasts metabolisms, your parrot’s poop will go back to normal quickly.